The present invention relates generally to dipole detection and location processing, and more particularly, to processing and processing apparatus that provides for higher spatial resolution, that provides for the use of more than three Anderson functions in the Anderson function expansions, and for the use of multiple processing of data and subtractions to achieve multiple target resolution.
The improvements provided by the present invention relate to the dipole moment detection and localization invention described in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/616,158, filed Nov. 20, 1990 now U.S. Pat. No. 5,239,474, which is assigned to the assignee of the present invention. The dipole moment detection and localization described in this application provides for an improved method of processing multiple field sensors in a dipole field than any method previously used. In this dipole moment detection and localization system, detection and localization is accomplished using the outputs from a fixed vector- or total-field-magnetometer array. The dipole moment detection and localization described in this patent application has yielded dramatic performance improvement over existing magnetic anomaly detection systems that use a single sensor to detect a change in the total local magnetic field derived from a dipole.
Therefore, it is an objective of the present invention to provide for dipole moment detection and localization processing systems and methods that provide for higher resolution of dipoles, the use of higher order Anderson functions in order to provide for better detection and localization of multiple dipoles, and processing techniques that also provide for the detection and localization of multiple target detection within the field of the sensors by field subtraction techniques.